The Phoenix Suns will play their fourth preseason game in eight days Sunday night as they take on the Denver Nuggets in a road matchup.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Suns guard Devin Booker (right ankle soreness), center Jusuf Nurkić (left middle finger), guard Grayson Allen (Achilles soreness) and guard/forward Josh Okogie (hamstring tightness) are all out for tonight’s matchup.
The Suns (2-1 in preseason) were blown out by the Detroit Pistons 109-91 Friday night in their preseason home opener without Booker, Nurkić and Allen. Detroit showed a lot more effort than Phoenix on both sides of the ball, and Royce O’Neale and Tyus Jones said postgame the Suns needed to be more physical defensively.
“We didn’t play that well, and they did,” Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said after the loss. “It happens.”
In a preseason loss like that, as Budenholzer mentioned, there wasn’t much to take away given the discrepancy in how much Detroit tried over Phoenix and how good the Suns looked in their first two preseason bouts. However, there were a few obvious spots the Suns could improve in.
Phoenix did not show as much ball movement as it did in its first two contests, so that could be something to watch tonight. The Suns attempted 47 3s against the Pistons, their second-straight contest attempting over 45, but only connected on 11 of them (25.7%). Attempting more 3-pointers has been a focus all preseason under Budenholzer, but the Suns have to find a way to generate better looks.
Kevin Durant (18 points on 7-of-12 shooting), Bradley Beal (17 points on 7-of-15 shooting) and Tyus Jones (11 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals) all played 24 minutes in the loss, as Budenholzer said he wants to ramp up the starters’ minutes heading into the regular season.
The Suns’ two draft picks, Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro, looked well above expected in the first two preseason games, but Dunn was 1-for-6 on Friday and Ighodaro was held scoreless. These two will look to get back on track against Denver.
The Nuggets (0-2) have had a week off after losing to the defending-champion Boston Celtics twice in Abu Dhabi. In a 130-104 loss last Sunday, three-time MVP Nikola Jokić had 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting and seven rebounds in only 19 minutes.
This is Phoenix’s second-to-last preseason contest. The Los Angeles Lakers will travel to play the Suns in their preseason finale on Thursday.
Local Game Information
Start Time: 5:30 p.m. MST
Location: Ball Arena
TV Channel: 3TV/AZ Family, ESPN
Radio: Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, La Mejor 106.5 FM
Stream: Suns Live
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) October 13, 2024
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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau
